The $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em championship (Event #49) attracted another huge field as 2,718 entries created a prize pool totaling $3,710,070. The top 270 finishers collected prize money.
There are 25 No-Limit Hold’em events on this year’s schedule. This was the sixth of seven $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournaments on the schedule.
The tournament was played over three consecutive days. The final table was played on the main stage and was covered by Bluff Media for live broadcast on ESPN360.com.
Last year’s champion for the event on the corresponding date was Chandrasekhar Billavara, from San Francisco, CA. He entered this event but did not cash. So far, 48 of 49 defending champions at this year’s WSOP have failed to cash in their respective events. Blair Rodman was the lone exception.
The $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em champion is the experienced poker tournament veteran J.C. Tran. He is a full-time professional poker player from Sacramento, CA.
Tran is part of a small group of professional players who came into this year’s WSOP who had accomplished just about everything possible in poker except winning a gold bracelet. That short list included Erick Lindgren, David Singer, John Phan, and others (all of whom enjoyed breakthrough victories in 2008). Many would place J.C. Tran amongst that respected group, and his victory in this event is yet another validation that this is the year when so many deserving players have finally won poker’s most coveted prize.
Tran was born in Vietnam.
He earned a degree in Information Management from California State University.
Tran is a huge fan of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings. He normally wears Kings’ regalia at the poker table. However, Tran has been wearing New York Yankees gear in recent months.
Tran won $631,170 for first place. This was his first WSOP gold bracelet. This was his 22nd time to cash at the WSOP – all since 2004.
The second-place finisher was Rasmus Nielsen, from Copenhagen, Denmark.
Six different nations were represented at the final table, including Canada, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, and the United States.
Former WSOP gold bracelet winners who cashed in this event included Men “the Master” Nguyen (25th), David Pham, Jon Friedberg (28th), Jeff Madsen (230th), and Mike Laing (260th).
Nguyen’s finish was his 61st career WSOP cash, which ranks second on the all-time list.
Micah Raskin was the chip leader at the End of Day One in this event. He finished in 42nd place. Through Event #49, the End of Day One chip leaders have gone on to cash 77 percent of the time -- 36 of 47 occasions (the chip leader was not applicable on two events). Only twelve of these same 49 chip leaders (24 percent) made it to the final table. Only one chip leader went on to win the event. That lone wire-to-wire winner was Vanessa Selbst in Event #19.
Ramus Nielsen was the chip leader at the start of this final table. He ended up as the runner-up. Through Event #49, eighteen of 47 chip leaders at the start of the final table (38 percent) went on to win the event. Twenty-eight of 47 chip leaders (60 percent) went on to finish in the top three spots. Two events did not have a chip leader (Heads-Up and Shootout tournaments).
Winner J.C. Tran is officially listed as being from Sacramento, CA. Through the conclusion of Event #49 at this year’s World Series of Poker, the gold bracelet count by nations and states reads as follows:
12 – Nevada
8 – California
4 – New York
3—Canada
3 – Germany
2 – Italy
2 – Missouri
1 – Arizona
1 – Belgium
1 – Brazil
1 – Denmark
1 – Florida
1 – France
1 – Georgia
1 – Holland
1 – Maryland
1 – Michigan
1 – Ohio
1 – Pennsylvania
1 – Russia
1 – South Carolina
1 – Wisconsin
Ten different nations have produced a gold bracelet winner at this year’s WSOP. This list now includes Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Russia, and the United States.
The Event #49 winner J.C. Tran is to be classified as a professional player. He has been playing full-time for several years and has cashed in many major tournaments. Accordingly, the “Pro-Am” gold bracelet scoreboard currently reads:
Professionals – 36 wins
Amateurs -- 11 wins
Semi-Pros -- 2 wins
Scotty Nguyen is now the leader on the 2008 prize money list, having won the most money at the WSOP, to date. His accrued winnings total $2,039,628.
Through the conclusion of Event #51, the total amount of prize money awarded at the WSOP totals $111,115,333. This is more than last year’s prize pool at this same time last year.
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